26 May 2010

Take two old codgers and a chain saw

Roots from the palm trees are invading our backyard drains and after thinking about it for some time, Hanno decided to take action.  He called out to me to come and help him.  I walked outside to see a long rope tied to our fig tree, the other end tied to the middle palm.  "I'm going to cut the palm tree down, you hold the rope so it doesn't fall on the shed."  So I was in charge of stopping a one tonne tree falling onto our shed.  We are living on the edge here, in more ways than one.  


In reality, all I had to do was hold the rope tight, Hanno would cut the tree so it fell away from the shed.  The rope was our insurance!  So he got our ancient electric chain saw and started cutting while I took photos and did the job asked of me.  All went to plan and the tree fell where he wanted it to with nothing damaged.  I am hoping he clears the rest of the trees and plants smaller fruit trees in their place.  The chooks will miss the palms, as they were a favourite summer afternoon resting place.
Inside the house, I did some writing and talking on the phone to my sister, Bernadette and my friend in Townsville, Kathleen.  When I sat to rest, I took up the needles and did some knitting.  Is there anything better on an overcast cool day than to sit in a warm room with your knitting or sewing? I sat, contentedly, for a few hours clicking, threading and flicking wool this way and that..  I could feel the strength and energy I lost yesterday return with every row.  Clicking away, not thinking of anything but the soft wool, slowly building a jumper/sweater for Hanno.


I'm working on three projects at the moment, although if you looked in my knitting basket you'd think it was 20. I think knitting baskets are supposed to be untidy and as long as the yarns don't start tangling together, I'm happy to see the mixture of colours and textures.  As well as Hanno's jumper, I'm knitting a big scarf and some mittens. They're all simple projects that I can make up as I go.  I'm not good with patterns and counting, so I tend to knit simply so I can change it when I feel the need.  What's on your needles right now?


I'm feeling on top of the world again today.  All that knitting healed me.  Today I'm back at the Centre for Sorry Day but I'll also take Bernadette to the doctor.  I hope you enjoy your day and if you're in Australia, please spare a thought for our first Australians.
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23 comments

  1. ah now, I wouldn't call you two old codgers! you seem more active than a lot of 20 something people I know!

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  2. I am crocheting a hat for my grandson (for cold weather, though we are currently back into hot summer). And working a granny square at a time on 2 afghans...so one does not get bored you know. The one is made from Bamboo yarn which feels so WONDERFULLY soft!! Never used it before. BOTH daughters want an afghan of it, so will be doing this a long time. I make granny squares in beige, offwhite and a pale green to be put together like a patchwork quilt. (I do quilt some at times, though my machine has sat idle far too long).
    Thanks for all the neat ideas you share here too!! I wish I could knit as you do, but my patience is not good enough for that. SO crocheting and sewing have to do.
    Blessings, Elizabeth

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  3. Well done, I wouldn't call you two old codgers either! :)

    I've just cast on for my first ever cardigan knitted for myself :) I'm very excited. My friend gave me vouchers for the local knitting shop for my birthday recently, and it was such a luxury to be able to choose*new wool* (I'm on a tight budget, so I usually just buy it if I see it in charity shops).

    Best wishes to Bernadette at her doctor's appointment tomorrow too
    xx

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  4. Oh how funny about the tree/chainsaw. That is exactly how my hubby and i would be doing things. Except in our case you would be seeing a picture of the tree IN the shed. I think it is great how you two are out there 'working' the land. Keep up the good work!

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  5. Love that post. I can't tell you how many of those "Oh, what have I gotten myself into?" moments we've had here! And we're still here to tell about it!

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  6. Fine work on the tree, you two! It's so nice to be able to set your mind to something, and get it done. I am currently working on a couple of different shrugs to wear with all my cute strappy dresses, and of course all the little things that are always on the needles- dishcloths, cushion (pillow) covers, etc... I'd love to see a finished pick of Hanno's jumper.

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  7. I don't know how to knit but I'd love to learn. I have limited knowledge of crochet...every time I start a project I somehow add a stitch to the end and all my squares turn into parallelograms!

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  8. Oh Rhonda, I so much enjoy your daily blog and I have to say when I read today's I was sitting at my desk laughing my 'A' off (pardon the pun)....... I can just imagine little you (and the look on ur face and whatever must have been going thru ur mind)trying to stop this massive tree from falling on the shed. Have a great day and keep up the great work on ur blog. Margaret

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  9. I stumbled across your blog some time back and visit just to see what you are up to...I am knitting a jacket for my 1 yr old grand daughter and another for my newest grand daughter who arrived last month on Anzac day ...I love your blog ,it's such a delight to know there a normal people out there who do normal every day things....such a great read...
    cheers Michelle
    Sth Aust.

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  10. Rhonda Jean you are very brave . When my Hubbie starts with the chain saw I run in the opposite direction. Yes I know I'm a chicken but my now much smaller avocado tree will testament on my behalf -it is safer to run.
    Though I must admit that I enjoy all the wood in our woodfire heater and unlike many of my friends I never have to chase up the wood- he has it all ready to go for a cosy winter. Very handy when you live in Hervey Bay Queensland.

    I'm having great fun knitting a very weird spiral scarf for our daughter- very theraputic . But after watching the weekend news where the news reading girl had one of these things around her neck I feel like a trend setter.

    Like you I spent much of yesterday knitting in a cosy room with a pork roast in the oven cooking and smelling great.

    A quick pick up of one small grandson from kindy and a walk with my long term neighbour in the afternoon as the rain eased and we gave our dogs their formal exercise - I am blessed - it is a good life .

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  11. Rhonda, the rope and the tree made me smile. Soon after we moved into the house I was responsible for holding up the sewer pipes while some on-the-cheap plumbing took place. I was nominated because we have barely a two foot gap under the house!
    On my needles: cotton overalls for Anna's (Domestic Felicity) expected baby, a sock for Tony, a square for Wraps With Love.
    Hope the Sorry Day is a great success.

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  12. Rhonda, what a crack up, I love the way you recount your experiences, with camera in hand. As for what is on my needles at the moment, good to see our knitting baskets overflowing with texture and colour, tis the season. I have a lovely dark red cowl that I am currently knitting, no pattern, not good with patterns, but I have a picture in my head. lol, will be interesting to see how it turns out. A dark green beanie on a set of needles, (this isn't going too well at the moment) Then on various crochet hooks, I have the following, a snuggle rug for my youngest, approx 3/4's done, 15 completed granny squares (just under 1/2 way) in a recycled cotton which was totally marked down, and is a lovely cream/beige blend. Squares to be joined together in a plain cream to hopefully give a lovely 'patchwork' look. I have recently completed for a little friends birthday crochet scarf and little hair tie flowers which she loved. I love having various bits to just pick up and do as I go. I have quite a few projects that I would like to get into once these above are completed, scarves for charity is what I am collecting wool for now. Have a lovely day at your place and I look forward to seeing what is planted in the place of your palm. Elizabeth, I just love the colours you are using for the 2 afghans, and they are going to be deliciously soft.

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  13. Ha Ha! I was scrolling down expecting to see a photo of the tree in the shed! Well done you two!
    I am just finishing the bands on a bolero top for my granddaughter and cannot wait to begin the "funky" dolls a friend told me was in the English WW.
    I always have washcloths/dishcloths on the go and love to use the bamboo/cotton mix.
    Very dull and overcast down on the Vic coast today, definitely crafting weather, though I have dragged out all my jigsaw puzzles!

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  14. I enjoy reading your blog. Thanks for taking the time to write. You really do make my day and put a smile on my face :) :) I hope that you get those fruit trees planted :)
    I love knitting. I studied abroad in Norway for year and bought a pair of mittens. When I lost them, I was so sad because they were expensive. So instead of buying another pair, I taught myself how to knit. Now here's where the funny part comes in..because I learned to knit in Norway, I learned the metric system of measure etc..so it became really easy in this area. When I returned home to the United States I had a very difficult time when I went into the local knitting shop. I didn't know any knitting terms in English and the salesperson didn't know the metric system. Yikes...I have since remedied that situation.

    Right now I"m knitting simple French bath mitts that go over the hand. They're great for bathing or washing your face. They're made out of durable cotton yarn and washable/reusable :) :) I'm also knitting cotton dishclothes. I'm trying to make things that are nice but also practical for my home.

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  15. Goodness, I'm glad you were only the insurance! Occasionally I get called to help Steve do something, and sometimes I'm just not up to the job!

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  16. As you speak of cold weather we are having a heat wave here in Ontario Canada, nevertheless I too am knitting a cardigan for myself.I know all too well the rope and pull method of getting trees down. As summer comes on and firewood must be cut and dried it would appear that this has become my second occupation. Our trees are larger and a good pulley rope is in daily use. Glad you found calm in your day. It makes everyone happy.

    Marlyn

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  17. It always makes me nervous when my husband cuts down trees, even a small one. A couple years ago he had to take down a whopper of a pine tree that was diseased and threatening our horse barn. All went well; luckily we had an empty field to one side and he was able to direct it that way instead of destroying a 200 year old barn. I was a nervous wreck the whole time! (But was still able to get it on video...)

    I'd love to learn to crochet one day.

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  18. A thank you to Joyce for the encouragement on the yarn afghan project. The one drawback is our store here only carries 6 or 7 color choices. But maybe being it is bamboo (86%, plus 12% acrylic and 2% polyester) determines that? The brand name is Bernat...are there other types of Bamboo available via internet, etc? We live in a smaller town here in the USA, so it is limiting what we have here. It is the softest yarn however!!

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  19. How did your knitted rug project from last year turn out? Is it still a long term work in progress or did I just miss the reveal post when you finished?

    I currently teaching myself to crochet & have finished a couple of pretty granny squares. My daughters are asking for their own rugs after seeing the knitted one I made for their brother.

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  20. We chopped down a massive old dead eucalyptus tree about 4 years back exactly the same way, though we had to build height platforms and use absailing equipment for safety and did branch by branch...the last branch was the scariest as there was nowhere to tie the absailing harness to!

    Fortunately we had a park behind us and by removing the colour bond panels were able to drop the bulk of the branches that way.

    Have to say chopping down a tree is an adreneline rush but a lot of hard work. Plenty of firewood now!

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  21. Hi Rhonda

    I remember Mum helping Dad with ropes etc, but we don't have any trees that need that type of work. We actually need to plant some.

    What's on my needles? I'm actually getting really good at doing one project at a time. I just finished a crocheted blanket and knitted a large rectangle of brown wool my daughter bought but couldn't crochet with because oit varied in width as it went. Not sure what I'll turn it into yet, but it's a warm spot for kitty on the back of a chair at the moment. Next I have just started a "scrumble" (invented by Prudence Mapstone) I've never been brave enough to try one before but had a stack of left over colours so I separated them into warm and cool colours and decided on cool and started!

    For those wanting to learn how to knit or crochet, even though my longsuffereing mother taught me (several times) it wasn't until I got out how to knit or crochet books from the library FROM THE CHILDRENS SECTION that I really got it. I'm very visual and needed the pictures to help me. I just went from there. Try it!

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  22. Oh how exciting! I know the moments well and the second of panic that sets it, at least for me it does. Trees and burning brush make me worry.

    Great job!

    The sweater is looking great too. I love the color.

    Karyn

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  23. Been there, done that as far as cutting down a tree goes! More than once and as much as I like hard work, I don't think I like cutting down trees. I get nervous when my Engineer hubby gets anywhere near a power tool because he's accident prone.
    My crochet projects are in several tote bags, and I'm happiest when I have a bunch of projects waiting on me.

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